Patch 4.1 Dungeon Finder: Call to Arms - Goodie Bags From Heroics!

Blizzard has just released major details about the latest changes to the Dungeon Finder coming in Patch 4.1! The Dungeon Finder will now detect which roles are in demand (*cough*tanks and healers*cough*) based on queue times. When certain queue times have been reached, a Call to Arms will go out for the desired role and players who queue and successfully complete a dungeon as that role will be rewarded with a special goodie bag (each time)! This goodie bag can contain:

Gold

Rare Gems

Flasks/Elixirs

Non-Combat Pet (Including cross faction pets!)

Rare Mounts (Including rare dungeon drop mounts!)

So what do you think? Will this help the Dungeon Finder queue problems? Will this cause more players to utilize dual specs to play their other roles and help out the queue timers? Or will we just end up with healers who can't heal (or won't heal) and tanks who don't have tanking gear? What do you think?

Blizzard Entertainment

In patch 4.1 we'll be introducing Dungeon Finder: Call to Arms, a new system intended to lower queue times. Call to Arms will automatically detect which class role is currently the least represented in the queue, and offer them additional rewards for entering the Dungeon Finder queue and completing a random level-85 Heroic dungeon.

Any time the Dungeon Finder queue is longer than a few minutes for level-85 Heroics, the Call to Arms system kicks in and determines which role is the least represented. In the case of tanking being the least represented role, the "Call to Arms: Tanks" icon will display in the Dungeon Finder UI menu where class roles are selected, and will also display on the UI when the queue pops and you are selected to enter a dungeon. Regardless of your role, you'll always be able to see which role currently has been Called to Arms, if any.

Call to Arms is meant to lower wait times by offering additional rewards for queuing as the currently least represented role. To be eligible for the additional rewards you must solo queue for a random level-85 Heroic in the role that is currently being Called to Arms, and complete the dungeon by killing the final boss. Every time you hit these requirements (there is no daily limit) you'll receive a goodie bag that will contain some gold, a chance at a rare gem, a chance at a flask/elixir (determined by spec), a good chance of receiving a non-combat pet (including cross faction pets), and a very rare chance at receiving a mount. The pets offered come from a wide variety of sources, and include companions like the Razzashi Hatchling, Parrot Cage (Cockatiel), and Tiny Sporebat, but the mounts are those specifically only available through dungeons (not raids), like the Reins of the Raven Lord from Sethekk Halls, Swift White Hawkstrider from Magisters' Terrace, and Deathcharger's Reins from Stratholme.

This system is meant to address the unacceptable queue times currently being experienced by those that queue for the DPS role at max level. The long queue times are, of course, caused by a very simple lack of representation in the Dungeon Finder by tanks, and to some extent healers. We don't feel the tanking and healing roles have any inherent issues that are causing the representation disparity, except that fulfilling them carries more responsibility. Understandably, players prefer to take on that responsibility in more organized situations than what the Dungeon Finder offers, but perhaps we can bribe them a little. While this system gives tanks and healers something extra, the incentive is being provided so that we can help players in the DPS role get into more dungeons, get better gear, and continue progressing.

While the gold, gems, flasks, and elixirs are OK incentives, we knew we needed something more substantial. We had briefly considered Valor Points and epics, but decided that wouldn't be working toward the goal of helping DPS players progress, and ultimately wouldn't keep tanks and healers in the Dungeon Finder system for very long. We settled on pets and dungeon-found mounts as they’re cosmetic/achievement items that players tend to try to get on their own, so why not change that up and offer them a chance to get some of those elusive pets and mounts in a way that also helps other players? Even if they don't get a pet or mount, or get one they already have, the gold and other goodies still feel rewarding enough that it won't feel like a waste of effort.

We think it's a pretty solid incentive to get tanks and healers queuing, give max-level players another way to collect the pets and mounts they so desire, and above all, to improve wait times for DPS players sitting in queues. In the case of lower level dungeons, it's actually not uncommon for DPS to be the least represented role, and so if this new system works out and we're pleased with the results, we may consider applying this same mechanic to lower level dungeons as well.

Comment by Adamsm

Comment by Kanariya

Comment by Interest

Hahahahahaha, you idiot. Hope you still like being treated like a second class citizen for a decision you made years ago!

No love,Blizzard Entertainment

Go back to Rift.

So this is a tank-exclusive thing then.

Possibly.

Here's the funny thing - if suddenly there's a lot of tanks another role may start getting rewards =D.

Comment by Sas148

on Wed, 06 Apr 2011 20:44:10 -0500

I like it; but... this will almost ALWAYS be solely beneficial to tanks. It's not very often that even a healer is in more of a demand than a tank.

Comment by Velrras

on Wed, 06 Apr 2011 20:44:38 -0500

So this is a tank-exclusive thing then.

You forget healer.This might motivate me to queue has a healer more often.

Comment by Contay

on Wed, 06 Apr 2011 20:45:38 -0500

This dosen't seem like it's going to last long at all because this rewards the hybrid classes that are able to maintain a tank or healing offset. There are a lot of people who play as warlocks, mages, rogues and hunters that would appreciate being able to have a boosted chance to collect rare mounts and crossfaction pets on their Pure DPS mains but will obviously NOT be able to take advantage of this system, ever.

And there are some hybrid players that simply do not like tanking or healing (myself included). Why should you do something you don't enjoy to be able to get things you want? I mean, I can enjoy to an extent killing mobs for 3-4 hours a day grinding for a pet... .but I don't enjoy babysitting people who aren't able to comprehend killing the fire elementals in the 3rd boss of Heroic Grim Batol might be a good idea (this is something I had to deal with just yesterday).

VERY bad idea. I don't see this hitting live servers. If it does, it's going to be blizzard shooting themselves in the foot.

Here's the funny thing - if suddenly there's a lot of tanks another role may start getting rewards =D.

This is what I think Blizzard is betting on, but it's such a long shot of it actually working out that way that I doubt there will be so many tanks and healers queuing up that DPS would be in demand. And that's the crux of the issue that I have with this; people who are pure DPS don't have the option of showing up as anything else... and I doubt that so many hybrid classes will start queuing as tank/healer so to make the other 4 pures suddenly in demand.

The only period of time where certain pure DPS classes were in demand was when good crowd control was highly desired (ie, the days of Heroic Magister's Terrace). That time is long, long gone.

Comment by Loldawg

on Wed, 06 Apr 2011 20:45:55 -0500

He's right tho, that means tanks n healz get the good stuff just by sitting and waiting for them to be needed (always). ;o

Comment by Scotia

on Wed, 06 Apr 2011 20:49:44 -0500

I don't think it's a troll, really. It's the truth. DPS will never be able to get that cool stuff.

Comment by shiek403

on Wed, 06 Apr 2011 20:50:14 -0500

i dont like this at all...i love my mage with all i am, mage for life!but im screwed out of this, as dps will NEVER be in special needso im going to be stuck AH buying everything the tanks get of my hard work just so i could get one to join my group...kinda sux for pure dps...

Comment by Miyari

on Wed, 06 Apr 2011 20:50:20 -0500

Sounds good to me as a healer - it gives me a chance now to get the items that DPS / tanks can solo for easily without having to play an offspec I don't want to.

The "cool stuff" being offered by the Call to Arms is nothing that cannot be obtained via other means, and they probably have extremely low rates to keep players grinding the roles. If everyone was able to get everything they wanted from the bags within the first week of grinding out random Heroic queues, it wouldn't fix anything.

Comment by politank

on Wed, 06 Apr 2011 20:52:23 -0500

Not only you had 0 queue time as tank, now you even get mounts and pets.

Comment by Venatrix

on Wed, 06 Apr 2011 20:52:29 -0500

This will be just tanks, IMO. I'm a healer and I still usually have queues of a few minutes or more (on a busy battlegroup). While my priest appreciates this, my hunter isn't so happy :(

Comment by shiek403

on Wed, 06 Apr 2011 20:52:54 -0500

yes... but another chance to get the raven lord is enough for me2 months of farming and nothingbut these guys.. even if its a 1/200 chance of drop means they can just run 3 call to arms and have a better chance of getting it than i do running H sethec halls every day...

Comment by mmc21

on Wed, 06 Apr 2011 20:53:04 -0500

I hope they remember to divide DPS queues by 3 because of the 3 DPS slots in a group.

Comment by Adamsm

on Wed, 06 Apr 2011 20:53:55 -0500

Miyari, did you mean to the link the Sporebat and Cockatiel? Those two are purchasable after all. Sure you weren't trying to put in the Firefly from Zangar and the Green Wing Macaw?

Comment by Orranis

on Wed, 06 Apr 2011 20:55:05 -0500

On the one hand... I don't think this will do much except make a few people spam heroics, and poor poor pure DPS classes.

On the other hand... &*!@ yeah. I'm gonna tank the !@#$ out instances now.

Comment by perculia

on Wed, 06 Apr 2011 20:55:26 -0500

I look forward to spellpower tanks and str healers when I zone in to my random :(

Comment by Oomkin

on Wed, 06 Apr 2011 20:56:09 -0500

As a player of 2 tanks with 100% of the heroic gear I want, this is perfect. It will tempt me to queue as a tank, I think it is a very good idea.

Comment by Blagga

on Wed, 06 Apr 2011 20:56:26 -0500

But Blizzard, April Fool's Day was last week.

Seriously, though, this makes me sad. As a Rogue, who has only one role available, I feel like I'm left out of a big new way of getting mounts and pets. Tanks (and healers too, I suppose) won't need to farm those old instances to get awesome looking mounts, or they won't have to scour the neutral auction house or make an opposite faction character to get those pets, while people who are pure DPS classes are stuck with these old methods. It's like they're rewarding those people simply for playing those classes. I wouldn't feel nearly as bad if Blizzard kept the rewards to gold, potions, and gems.